


Sometime

by EmeraldShine



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Awkward Crush, F/M, Fluff, Last Specter, Mutual Pining, Relationship Advice, Swearing, also i headcanon that crow lives IN the black market, i don't remember why i have that headcanon but it stuck with me, listen it's a teenage boy not knowing how to ask his crush out and asking his sister for advice, what more do you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25151905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldShine/pseuds/EmeraldShine
Summary: Crow finally gets the courage to ask Wren out - sort of. It... doesn't quite go as planned. Luckily, his sister is there to help him out.
Relationships: Crow/Wren (Professor Layton)
Kudos: 2





	Sometime

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this for the PL Amino a little while back and figured I'd post it here! I picked this particular fic bc Crow is the main focus here, so it's less esoteric than if my OC were more prominent. For the sake of clarification, Robin is Crow's twin sister and helps out with market stuff, so she knows all the Ravens. That's pretty much all you gotta know about her for this story LMAO

“Would you like to go out sometime?”

Jesus, he couldn’t have been  _ less _ romantic.

Of COURSE she’d like to go out sometime! ANY of them would! For all she knew, Crow could’ve intended to take ROBIN along with him! Hell, he could’ve meant a night out with the whole gang! Ugh, why did he have to be such an idiot…

Crow rolled over on his mattress. (Calling it a bed would do it more justice than it deserved.) He stared off at the wall, as if the rocky barrier of the black market’s back room would prove consul for him. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t respond.

The boy let out a deep sigh plagued with weariness. He’d probably ruined his chances with her…

It wasn’t the first time Crow had been stupidly awkward around Wren. During the past week, he’d been doing dumb things, losing track of important matters (including the time), and forgetting to stay on task. For the rest of the Ravens, it meant picking up his slack and getting him to focus long enough to hold an auction. His better friends - Socket, Marilyn, Badger, and of course Robin - were getting suspicious. Even Louis was catching on, mainly because he was Robin’s best friend and could usually tell when she had something on her mind.

The night Crow had asked her was the night of their most recent auction. The crowd had gone, and everyone was cleaning up after the guests. Most of the Ravens had already left; it was just him and the girls.

Marilyn and Wren were some of the best workers Crow could ask for. If he gave them a task, they would always finish it no matter what it took. They made a good team, too: Marilyn was born to be in business, and Wren’s charm always persuaded any skeptical customers that they were making the best choice possible. Wren always looked so proud of herself when she swayed people onto the Ravens’ side. He found it kind of cute…

Crow found himself staring at her and quickly looked away before she could notice.  _ Goddammit, Crow, get yourself together _ , he scolded himself, trying to get back to the matter at hand.  _ Okay. Uh-Shit, what was I doing!? _

Frustrated, he gripped his pencil, unconsciously tapping it on the table in front of him. However, his nervous tic was soon abruptly ended by a playful nudge. Crow looked over to see a cheeky grin on his twin sister’s face. He shot her a glare. “Not now, Robin.”

“Aw, come on!” She pushed his arm again. “I saw the way you were looking at her!”

Crow rolled his eyes and ignored his sister, trying to hide the blush overcoming his cheeks. Of course, his hair was covering the side of his face which was facing AWAY from Robin.

She giggled, leaning back against the table. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. You’ve gotta work up the courage to ask her out, though, it’s just getting annoying at this point.”

“My love life ain’t your business,” muttered Crow, who finally remembered that he was counting money before he was distracted. “‘Sides, the fact that it’s annoying you just makes me want to delay it!” He smirked at Robin, who groaned.

They stood in silence for a moment as she watched Crow sort the cash they’d earned during the auction. It was more than usual - there would be plenty to go around for all ten of them.

“Well,” his sister finally sighed, straightening herself, “boxes ain’t gonna put themselves away…!” With that, she disappeared behind the curtain, leaving him with Wren and Marilyn.

As he organized the bank notes, Crow couldn’t help but think about Robin’s words. He HAD been wanting to ask Wren out for a while now… Whenever he considered doing so, however, he became much too nervous and lost the cool attitude he was known for. Besides, if he decided to do it tonight, Robin would think that SHE was the one responsible for pushing him over the edge.

He had to do it sometime, though.

Cash sorted, Crow turned and left the stage. On his way down the rows, he passed Marilyn, who was heading in the opposite direction, supposedly to talk to his sister. He felt her try to make sense of the expression on his face, but they both moved too quickly for a proper examination.

“Hey, Wren?”

The Raven perched on the ladder looked back and grew visibly happier. She quickly finished tearing down announcements for the night’s now passed event and descended to Crow’s level.

“Sup, boss?” She smiled cheerfully, making Crow forget what he was saying for a split second.

“Uh, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said, recovering surprisingly smoothly.

Wren looked at him intently, patiently waiting for whatever he had to say.

“Would you like to go out sometime?”

Really. REALLY. THAT’S what you came up with. You bloody idiot, that’s not romantic at all!

To his surprise, the girl in front of him turned a shade of red. “I- Uh, I-I-” She struggled to form a coherent response to the question.

Crow blushed himself. “U-Uh, y-you don't have to say yes!” He scrambled to find the right words, failing to recover as smoothly as he had just a moment ago. “I’ll be fine with whatever you say!”

“I’ll have to think about it,” responded Wren. “Eh- I gotta get home, family’s probably wondering why I’m still out so late.”

“Right, right,” he stammered. “Tell your- Parents that I said hi.”

Wren quickly snagged her coat from the seats and left the bazaar, leaving Crow to simply look on in regret.

He threw off his blanket and got up, heading to the bathroom. He couldn’t lie there staring at a blank wall all night, so he might as well stare at himself.

Shutting the door so that the light wouldn’t disturb his sleeping sister, he gazed into the mirror.  _ What am I gonna do…? _

He thought back to the expression on Wren’s face. She looked flustered, and not the good kind. She’d never be able to look at him the same way again, would she?

Crow examined himself in the looking-glass: his dark hair fell over one eye, blocking part of his vision. It made things a bit annoying, but at least it was better than Badger’s hair…! ‘Sides, it covered up the side effects of the market’s stress - now you could only see  _ some _ of the bags under his eyes.

Sighing, he splashed some water on his face and left the bathroom to find his sister leaning back in a chair with her feet on the dining table.

“Rob? What are you…”

“Hey, we may be clever enough to block our emotions off, but we can still tell when something’s wrong!”

Crow considered this for a brief moment and let out a soft chuckle. Robin was right: they could read each other like open books. Even when one tried to hide something, the other could tell that something was being hidden (though they may not know what).

He pulled up a chair. “What gave it away?”

“Inability to fall asleep.” She took her legs off the table. “You’re only like that when something’s bothering you or you just had the time of your life, and I don’t remember the auction being that fun!”

Crow couldn’t help but smile. His sister knew exactly what to say. “Okay, don’t say you told me so, but…”

Robin leaned in, interest piqued.

“I...asked Wren out on a date.”

There was a moment of silence as Robin blinked. Her face turned from serious and consoling to amused and happy. “What’d she say?” she asked, giving her brother a genuine smile.

He hesitated. There was a 50/50 chance that Robin would either be sympathetic or laugh in his face. She already knew too much for him to just brush the situation off, though, so he might as well just tell her.

“She… She said she’d have to think about it.”

Another brief pause fell between them as Robin took in her brother’s words. There was only one thing she could think to say: “So, let her think about it.”

The boy shook his head. “Robin, you don’t understand-“

“Crow, if I know Wren,  _ and I’m pretty sure I do _ -” (She let the sarcasm really ring with that one.) “-she’ll give you a straight answer when she’s had a chance to process everything. Give her time.”

It was Crow’s turn to consider his sibling’s words. She did have a point - Wren  _ was _ one of her best friends, and they’d known each other for years. It only made sense that Robin would know how she’d react.

“Thanks, Robin…” he sighed, looking at his sister. “I don’t know what I’d do without you…”

She smiled. “Hey, I don’t know what I’d do without YOU! I may be motherly, but you’re the one without a temper!”

Crow laughed at how true that statement was - Robin was really only consoling to people she trusted. I mean, when Tony Barde walked into their market? It’s a good thing Marilyn was there.

Crow decided to bring the conversation back from its tangent. “You know, while we’re on the subject of love…” He paused, both for dramatic effect and to keep himself from laughing. “How’s that crush of _yours_ going?”

Robin stared at him. And then collapsed into a lovesick mess. “SHE’S SO CUTE!” she wailed, blushing face buried in her arms.

This talk about romance continued on for a while, with Crow consoling Robin and the two of them mutually gushing over their love interests. Eventually, after a good hour of much-needed bonding, the twins decided that… Well, they were 2 a.m. drunk; they needed some sleep before the sun rose on them.

The next- Or, rather, later that morning, Crow (Robin was already up) ascended the ladder to greet the upstairs market. He welcomed the warmth of the sun and scanned the area around him. It was rather lively compared to other days: most of the Ravens were busy with customers. Most.

Catching each other’s eye, Wren happily gestured for Crow to come over. Once he got closer, he noticed that she looked as if nothing had happened last night. He was honestly rather thankful of that.

He took a breath to speak, but-

“Paddy’s Place, six o’clock?”

He blinked, taken aback by Wren’s sudden burst in confidence. It wasn’t necessarily a trait she lacked, but compared to last night, Crow was surprised by her abrupt change of attitude.

After a moment of processing what had just happened, he smiled softly.

“Sure.”

The other Raven returned the joyful countenance. “Good,” she said, turning to leave. (Crow didn’t take offense, as the market was always requiring some task of them all.) “And you’re paying - we got more than enough money for all of us last night!”

Crow watched her go, a grin overcoming his face. Maybe he had been romantic after all...


End file.
